Babysitter Rocket
by Sammy Heroes
Summary: Rocket is left to babysit an energetic one and a half year old Lotus, Peter's daughter, while the guardians are out. What kind of madness can a small toddler bring?


**This is set after Peter's Little Girl but it is not the sequel, just a small aftermath to the story.**

They had landed on Xandar for an important mission assigned to them by Nova Prime herself: to catch a band of thieves that had been causing headaches for the Nova Corps. The problem was: they were almost invisible. Almost nobody could see them. They were a pain in the ass. They were called the Shadows. The guardians had to stop them and take them to justice. But one of them had to stay on the Milano and take care of Peter's one year and a half daughter, Lotus Quill.

"So, you got everything?"

"Yep."

"Diapers, formula bottles, sucker?"

"Yep, yep and yep."

"Her favorite stuffed bunny and raccoon?"

"Yes, I got them…"

"And another change of diapers?"

"Quill, I live under the same roof as you do. I have everything that IT needs in here, so I'll tell you something…" Rocket took a deep breath. "Cut it out! I can take care of IT! I mean, I took care of Groot when he was a baby!"

Peter frowned and crossed his arms, looking down at the raccoon. "It's not the same. Groot is a tree. Baby trees only need water and a large space to grow."

"I am Groot." Groot agreed with Peter.

Rocket rolled his eyes. Peter turned around and approached Gamora, taking her out of ear shot. "Are you sure I have to let him babysit Lotus?"

Gamora glared at him. "You know that I can't babysit her. Nova Prime asked me to come along on this mission and you don't trust Drax to do so."

"Yeah, I can't do it either and we need Groot as muscle, so…" He sighed. "Alright."

"Good."

They all picked their weapons and other useful things and prepared themselves. Peter walked back to his room, took Lotus out of her crib and handed her over to Rocket. "Now remember, she doesn't like broccoli so trick her into thinking its candy and she must drink her milk before bedtime and-"

"Quill?" Rocket said as he put the one year and a half toddler on the floor. The baby stood up and her head reached Rocket's shoulders. Lotus was wearing a pink shirt and a jean jumper Peter managed to buy for her. She still wore her beloved pig tails.

"Yeah?"

"Shut up. Stop being such an over protective daddy. Don't worry, she's got me!" Rocket smirked.

"That's what I'm worried about…"

"Peter! Let's go!" Gamora called from outside the ship.

"Coming!" Peter turned to Rocket. "If something happens, I'll have your ringed tail for a trophy." Then he left.

The doors closed automatically and Rocket sighed. He really wanted to kick some assassin's ass but he was stuck on the Milano taking care of something disgusting and horrendously cute… IT.

"Rocket…" The toddler said a she sat down on the floor again.

The raccoon looked down at her and sighed. "So, what do you want to do? Continue your basic mechanics classes with me?"

The baby looked at him curiously. Rocket sighed. For almost six months now, he has been teaching IT some basic mechanics because kids learn quicker when they are younger. He felt ridiculous teaching his genius to a mere baby, but somehow, he felt that she actually listened to him. Lotus got up and followed Rocket towards the small workshop they had installed on the Milano. The small room was a mess but it was useful. He sat the baby down on the floor and he put some cables of different colors in front of her. Lotus looked at each one of them in amazement.

Rocket explained the concept of cables and their functions. The 'Thing' just looked at him every single minute. Before they knew it, an hour passed and Rocket put away the cables. "What do you want to do now?"

"Out."

"What?"

"Out."

"You want to get out of the ship?"

Lotus nodded. Rocket sighed. He wanted to go out too, so… "Alright. We are going out. How does the Xandarian mall sounds?"

Lotus nodded. Of course, she had been there a couple of times. She recognized the name.

OOO

Rocket felt all gazes upon him as he grabbed Lotus hand and walked through the crowds of the mall. It was… awkward. It was not every day you got see a raccoon carrying a big gun on his back and a toddler with a fist on her mouth and holding hands with said raccoon walking around together in the mall. "Alright, IT. This is your fault that everyone is looking at us. So you better be sorry for yourself."

Lotus looked at her uncle with deep thought. Of course, she didn't understood the situation. Rocket rolled his eyes at the toddler. He did not signed up for this. He took a right turn and walked right towards the fountain where he and Groot usually spend some afternoons. He grabbed the toddler and sat her on the edge of the fountain. He sat beside her. "Ok, IT. This is how Groot and I spend some afternoons here in the mall. Like old times… watching people and see who are assholes and stupid minded."

Lotus looked at the raccoon with confusion.

Rocket lowered his ears in frustration. "You'll understand when you are older."

Lotus, upon seeing Rocket's ears, decided to reach them. Rocket backed away a little bit embarrassed that the baby wanted to touch his ears in public. He blushed. "Not now, IT. That's our little secret."

The toddler glared at him and looked away. Rocket growled in frustration. "Hey, we can play back on the ship. Don't be mad at me, ok?" He mentally sighed. This toddler had him around her little finger. How could he have fallen so low?

Suddenly, gunshots were heard and people started to run around panicked in every direction. Rocket looked at the direction of the gunshots. Then he looked back at the toddler beside him… to notice that she was gone. Rocket panicked. He quickly got up and looked around for the lost toddler. "IT!? IT!?" He called. "Lotus!?"

He suddenly heard a small cry and he looked at its direction. Some masked man in black suit had Lotus! The poor toddler struggled against this stranger's arms but it was of no use.

"Hey!" Rocket yelled furiously. The man looked at Rocket and made a mad dash thought the crowds. "OH NO YOU DON'T! THAT THING IS MINE!" Rocket dashed behind.

The thief didn't listen and kept on running with Lotus tight on his grip, Rocket hot on his heels. The kidnapper tried to shot Rocket but the raccoon dodged the shots. Lotus cried in fear as she watched her uncle doing his best to save her.

Rocket saw a staircase and climbed to the top, there were less people in there so he could run faster without hitting anyone's legs because of his small size. He suddenly stopped short and looked down at the floor below and saw the kidnapper running away with Lotus. Wait for it… wait for it… Now! Rocket jumped off the second floor and landed right over the kidnapper's head. He seriously thought that this plan will work, but the thief grabbed him by his tail and yanked him away. Rocket fell hard on the floor knocked out his head. He rubbed that area and looked up. Everything was blurry but one thing was clear. The thief was getting away with his niece!

"Quill's gonna have my tail for a trophy…"

But nobody stole his niece under HIS watch.

OOO

The kidnapper finally reached his destination. An old abandoned building where he usually meet with his clients or his boss. In this case, his boss. He managed to calm down the toddler, but Lotus was still sobbing. He laid her on an old table with a bunch of electronics and looked down at her. "So, you're the toddler. I thought you will be older."

"Got the toddler?" Someone asked. It was the kidnapper's boss entering the room along with two pink colored henchmen.

"Yep. Nova Prime's granddaughter. She will pay well for-" He was smacked straight on the face.

"YOU FOOL! I said to kidnap a 'grandson'! Not a girl! Are you deaf!?"

"Yes… Kind of. I just recently went to the doctor. He says I have a severe case of _moronalitis_… I think it has something to do with being stupid or being a _moron_." He was smacked by the two henchmen.

The boss face slapped. "Now what do we do with this thing?"

Lotus raised an eye brow. Nobody called her 'thing' except her uncle Rocket.

"I don't know. I just stole her from a raccoon in the Xandarian mall."

"And you didn't even went to Nova Corps headquarters! Wait- you said… raccoon?"

"Yes."

"Talking raccoon?"

"Yes."

"Big gun on the back?" Now the boss was sweating.

"Yes."

"SHIT! You stole that baby from a Guardian of the Galaxy! MORON!"

The doors burst open in that exact same moment and Rocket Raccoon stood there. "That's right. YOU stole my niece. And nobody, NOBODY steals my niece! Not under my watch!"

The thief, the henchmen and the boss shivered under the small raccoon's gaze. Rocket took out his big gun and pointed at them. "SAY HELLO TO MY LITTLE FRIEND!"

The boss raised his hands in surrender along his henchmen and the kidnapper. "We are sorry! We confused this baby for someone else's!" They shivered.

"Well, who were you going to kidnap!?" Rocket demanded.

"Nova Prime's grandson." The kidnapper said. He was smacked on the back by his boss.

"Oh, I see. Wait until I tell Nova that you tried to kidnap her grandson and-" He was interrupted when a cage fell right over the shivering men. Rocket raised an eye brow and looked back at Lotus. The toddler was giggling with pleasure as she held up a remote control. It was an old model, but it was definitely the control for the cage. She must have gotten it from the pile of electronics over the table. Rocket smirked. "Well, haven't I thought you well?"

The toddler just giggled.

"Please, don't hurt us! We didn't meant to grab this toddler. We swear it in Stan Lee's name!" The boss yelled.

Rocket raised an eye brow when the mention of Stan Lee but he quickly shrugged it off. "Oh don't worry, it will be just a soft scratch in your faces. That's all." He smirked as his face darkened.

OOO

After giving a quick call to the Nova Corps to pick up the scum who he 'carefully' tortured and having to deal with a panicked Nova, Rocket and Lotus could finally go back to the Milano. Rocket opened the doors as Lotus kept on holding his hand.

"If I knew that all this shit was going to happen, I wouldn't have put a foot outside the ship!" He turned to Lotus as the door closed automatically behind them. "It's your fault. You are a magnet for kidnappers, you know that?"

The toddler just smiled, completely unaware of the danger she just went through. Rocket sighed and rolled his eyes. "Of course you don't know. First Crimson Red and now this guy. I'm getting tired of saving you, you know!"

The toddler just giggled in response. Rocket smiled. Suddenly, Lotus started pulling onto Rocket's arm. "Ok, I'll follow."

It turns out she wanted to play dolls. And Rocket had to swallow up his embarrassment. Good thing there was no one else around.

OOO

Night had fallen and Peter and the rest of the team made their way back to the Milano. They were a little beaten up, but they got the bad guys and put them to justice. Groot and Drax said their goodnights and went out like a candle once they reached their rooms. Gamora and Peter walked to Rocket's workshop to pick up Lotus.

"Do you think everything went well?" Peter asked Gamora while stretching his arms over his head.

"I believe so." They opened the door to the workshop to find Rocket on the floor sleeping… curled up around a sleeping Lotus. The toddler had her hand around her stuffed raccoon doll and her head laid lazily over Rocket's back.

Peter smiled. "Gamora?" He whispered. "Where's the camera? I need to blackmail him with this."


End file.
